Itinerary from our NYC trip

There is one way to travel and it involves doing all the touristy bits that all the popular books/websites would recommend. And then there is the other way, this kind of travel is best done when you are actually moving at the pace of the city you are visiting, dancing to its rhythm, people watching, discovering hidden gems that no travel guide would ever mention. Happy to report back that I did both. The first kind was saved to reintroduce NYC to the kids and the second kind was savored when I was by myself, walking all over the city while Kiran took charge of the kids.

After pining for over 2 years to set foot in NYC again and making numerous promises to Sriman, we finally made it there last summer for five days. Even before we planned the trip, I wrote a list of all the things I wanted to do when I did find myself there. 

What made it to our list either came from watching Casey Neistat's vlogs or from a NY related book Kiran gifted Nihaar called "A walk in New York". The book is about a dad showing his kid all the iconic places in Manhattan. It really helped reading the book at bed time to prep him for what to expect from NY. Sriman, on the other hand remembered Manhattan like the back of his hand. Here is a peek at my list..

This trip was first of sorts for our family. We were officially stroller free! The kids were at an age where managing them alone was doable. Kiran and I took turns taking the kids to museums, parks, iconic attractions and landmark places while the other went around meeting friends, visiting galleries, attending work related meetings(Kiran) and shopping(ahem! you know who). We also managed to sneak in date night to watch a broadway show. Read on to see how our days unfolded but firstly...

Where did we stay?

We stayed in The Executive Floor Suite on the 41st floor at The Hilton Midtown. The location of the hotel was perfect as it was a stone's throw away from Central Park and Times Square. On one of our earlier trips to NY we stayed at the exact same hotel and knew what to expect. 

Flipping through coffee table books based on NY and its architecture while getting a sip of that view was what my dreams were made of.

What view? We had a jaw dropping bird's eye view of the entire Central park, reservoir included and the urban jungle beyond from our room on the 41st floor.

Among the many amenities the room came with, it also included breakfast in the Executive Lounge and what an amaaazing spread it was! 

Eating toasted bread, boiled eggs, fresh fruit and sipping on coffee while watching New Yorkers go about their busy day through the wide glass windows of the lounge was an experience in itself. Having that luxury every morning put an extra spring in our step and set us up for the day ahead.

DAY 1

Back in the day as an Interior Design enthusiast, I volunteered as a docent for Kips Bay Decorator Show House. What I loved about that experience was witnessing how different people reacted differently to the same room, apart from the sensorial rollercoaster of course! Attending this event was high up on my list and the day we arrived was the last day of the Show House.

After a very long flight from San Jose, CA to JFK airport, I made it just in time before the show house closed for the season. And when I say just in time, I really mean I got dropped off from the cab that took us straight from the airport while Kiran took the kids to the hotel to check in. 

The idea behind the decorator show house being each year a multi-level house usually on the Upper East Side that is for sale on the market is chosen. Every room in the house is then assigned to reputed Interior Designers and design firms to showcase their design aesthetics. All of Manhattan's elite make a beeline to see what is trending in the design world. The proceeds from the event go to benefit Kips Bay Boys and Girls club. 

Can you say how excited I was to be back in the groove! I was trilled to find hydrangeas on the terrace of the show house. I associate hydrangeas to the care free days we had living in NY, taking day trips to the Hamptons, to lust over the expansive houses with manicured lawns surrounded by hydrangea trees. 

 

Walking back to our hotel after the show house, I witnessed Manhattanhenge, this spectacular sight of the sunset aligning with the east-west streets of the island.

DAY 2

Early on Day 2, I quickly stepped out of the hotel before the kids could get a hold of me(mom life haha). I started walking down Broadway, window shopping along the way before I hit Little Italy for lunch.

I took complete advantage of the alfresco style dining on the hot, muggy summer day to enjoy a meal of pizza, all by myself, with copious amounts of people watching. 

Next on my escapade, I found myself in Soho(South of Houston). Legend has it that the artists who found living in Manhattan rather expensive, started living in the industrial warehouses in Soho and gentrified the area. You cannot escape the magnetic energy in the air, with the cobblestone streets, upscale boutiques and art galleries everywhere you look in Soho. If you ever find yourself in the neighborhood, you must go visit Jonathan Adler's store!

I found a street vendor in Soho selling sunglasses. Looking into the mirror just didn't help make a call on which one to choose. I used my trusted smart phone to take selfies, before deciding which pair of sunglasses suited me best. 

After the sheer exhaustion of navigating the city, I headed towards Elizabeth Garden. The adjacent antique store uses this public space to display sculptures lending a summer soiree atmosphere to the park between the looming buildings.  

Having parked their strollers, parents let their kids run around, enjoying a break in the shade of the trees. It felt like the fitting place to cool down in the hot afternoon...

I ended the day by going back to the hotel and listened to the kids talk about how much fun they had at the Natural History museum. 

DAY 3

After a customary #ootd pic, without any detours, I headed downtown to Chelsea on Day 3. 

Every time you turn a corner in Manhattan, you never know what you will find. That is reason enough to to go that extra mile, thanking your sore feet at the end of the day for taking you on a journey that you will treasure.

When in Chelsea, visiting Anthropologie store is imperative. After oohing and aahing at the myriad worldly finds at Anthro, I stepped inside Chelsea market for a culinary exploration. Its an amalgamation of artisan breads and cheese stores, farm stands and gourmet food stores that make Chelsea market a must visit.

A few steps away is High Line, a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. Its an urban oasis with a view of the Hudson river, art installations and posters, benches to lounge on, surrounded by lush greenery.

The humor on the High Line was a consistent thread and did not disappoint. The art installation of a sculpture of the almost naked guy was a crowd please.

You need some serious parallel parking skills to survive with a car in NYC, so this advertisement made me laugh out loud! I failed the driving test four times in NY before I finally got my driver's license after moving to New Jersey...sigh!

At the time of our visit, my Facebook feed was flooded with news about who wore what at the MET Gala and seeing this poster reminded me to go check out the exhibition Manus Machina.

At this point in the trip, I decided to stop taking bad selfies and ask anyone holding cool camera gear to take a picture of me. It worked like a charm! The struggle, of not having my very talented photographer husband around, was real ;)

I chanced upon this gallery and was intrigued enough to venture inside. 

Green Naftali Gallery was exhibiting the works by the artist Chung Sang-Hwa and here is a brief read..

I was intrigued by the modern architecture of the space, the gallery acting like a white box, playing with the scale and mostly natural lighting to get emphasis on the art at display.

Yummy sushi for lunch happened next...

After lunch, I briefly stopped at Union square. With the farmers market in full swing, I imagined whose outfit could have made it to Bill Cunnigham's feature for the NY times. 

I ambled my way back to the hotel to be reunited with the family. On my way back I was taken by surprise by the vertical pool in the middle of Rockefeller center. 

Kiran had taken the kids to galavant in the numerous play areas at Central park. I later heard they rode the carousal, ate popsicles and Belgian waffles in the park.

We hired a babysitter through Parents in a Pinch to watch the kids while we sneaked away to watch a Broadway show that evening. We have had great experience using this site to hire babysitters in the last minute. So as the babysitter and the kids got familiarized, we dressed up for our date night in town!

Being in the heart of Times Square and waiting for the tickets booth to open up, not having a clue as to which show we would end up watching was giving us an adrenaline rush. We heard raving reviews for An American in Paris and I was hoping to see it.

So we got our tickets for the show and had dinner at one of the zillion pizzerias in the area. We perched ourselves cosily in the theatre and enjoyed every bit of the show!

After the show, we picked up cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery and mooched around in Rockefeller center for a bit... 

That was a how we ended our splendid date night.

DAY 4

Socializing was high on the list for Day4.  We had been out of touch with dear friends after moving away to California and reconnecting was a priority.

We made plans to meet near and dear ones at Bryant park and on our way to the park spotted this quirky little shop and had to step in.

Most of our memories of NY revolve around Bryant park. We would just drive to the city, not having a plan for the day and gravitate towards Bryant park for a leisurely walk, a carousal ride and loiter aimlessly at the New York Public Library.

Sriman was in his comfort zone surrounded by books but Nihaar wasn't amused enough. I'm guessing he had more fun chasing the pigeons away..

I met up with my cousin who had moved to NY recently. I also felt all caught up meeting my friends from eons.

My friends and I have seen each other through the years, from moving to an alien country and learning the ways of our new world to having kids around the same time. Albeit the physical distance of living on two ends of the country, we continue being a rock of support for each other, to pick up where we left off.

DAY 5

Our initial plan for Day 5 was to wrap our trip. Kiran was supposed to stay on while I took the kids back to Cali. But on the fly at breakfast, Kiran asked if we would want to extend our trip by a day and leave together the next day. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. 

So we checked out of our hotel, left our luggage in the cloak room of the hotel and took a subway ride to Grand Central station. We parted ways there, Kiran went about work related stuff and I took complete control of the kids. 

The kids and I took another subway ride to Battery park to take the Staten Island ferry to see Statue of Liberty.

After the ferry ride, we stopped at a soup and sandwich place for a quick bite and walked on to marvel the majestic bull at Wall street.

The cathedrals in the city are pops of sanctuaries to find inner peace between all the noise that drowns you outside. We made a pitstop at St. Paul's Chapel to soak in the architecture.

After reuniting with Kiran at WTC, we hailed a cab to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's rooftop garden to see the PsychoBarn. It was quite a contrast to see the old, rickety barn between the strong lines of NYC skyline. Here is a fun read about how the installation came about on Cup of Jo. 

Next, we were ready to be awe inspired by the Manus Machina exhibition downstairs at the MET. 

And blown away I was, with the intricacies and detailing on the ensembles. The exhibition explores the confluence between handmade and machine made costumes and examines how fashion has changed in the age of technology. The gown with the long train above is a Karl Lagerfeld couture for Channel that uses hand painted design and machine stitched embellishments. 

  

We chanced upon a poet on the side walk after we stepped out of the museum. I was intrigued enough to give it a go. Kiran took the kids to the park next to the museum while I sat there waiting for the poet to do his charm. It was grueling, the wait. He asked me questions like what brings me to the city and for no reason I got emotional and was bawling. It scared the poet, haha.

He typed away words on his dilapidated old-school typewriter and handed me a piece of paper with the poem. I paid him for what it was worth and stepped away to find the family not fully understanding what the poem meant. After coming back home, I re-read it and got what he was trying to say. The gist of it... I was being over dramatic about how I felt for NY. I don't blame him, I was and am!

From Fifth Avenue, we walked towards Madison Avenue to find Laudree, the very famous French luxury baker and sweets maker that has set shop in NY.  Oh the sight of macaroons made us swoon!

After putting a deeper hole in our pockets, we walked out with the most sinfully delicious macaroons that could mend any hole! 

No matter how much we enjoy other cuisines, our trips usually end with an Indian meal. The last stop for the day was Vatan, our trusted restaurant for Indian vegetarian thali. They serve Gujarati food in a village style setting and are open only for dinner.

The effort that went into putting intricate details into this place is commendable. The service is always en pointe and we always end up gorging the scrumptious food. The only catch, they are very finicky over making prior reservations and are booked most of the time.

That was our last meal for the trip, in the epic city that is NY. We drove to New Jersey to put up at a decent hotel for the night, before we took the plane early next morning. What we got home were memories we would cherish a lifetime and cannoli of course!

Like my Facebook page for updates on latest posts!

Other NY related posts on the blog that you may like..

Manhattan

Man Repeller